Weft-replenishing loom with regularly-moving transferrer



Dec. 3, 1929.

w. H. WAKEFIELD WEFT REPLENISHING LOOM WITH REGULARLY MOVING TRANSFERRER Filed July 16, 1928 Patented Dec. 3, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WALTER H. WAKEFIELD, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CROMPTON 8a KNOWLES LOOM WORKS, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS WEFT-REPLENISHING LOOM WITH REGULARLY-MOVING TRANSFERRER Application filed July 16,

This invention relates to improvements in weft replenishing looms having regularly moving transferrer arms and it is the general object of the invention to provide means to prevent indication of weft at the time of transfer and also to release an untransferred bobbin.

In co-pending application Ser. No. 293,014 filed by King there is shown a device which is operative at the time of transfer to prevent indication of weft exhaustion. This device operates by a force communicated through the yielding bobbin support and as shown in that application the bobbin support is always in bobbin supporting position except when being moved by the incoming bobbin at the time of transfer. It occasionally happens that a bobbin will be slow in being released from one or another of the stacks of reserve bobbins and will not arrive under the transferrer arm but will be held by the latter to one side of the transfer position as the transferrer arm moves downwardly. The result'of this faulty operation of the mechanism will be to permit 1 the bobbin to move into transfer position during the upward or non-transferring stroke of the transferrer arm and be inserted into the active shuttle on the next stroke of the transferrer arm toward the shuttle. If the shuttles have shifted in the meantime the bobbin will be put into the wrong shuttle and a fault will occur in the pattern.

It is an important object of my present invention to combine with the King construction a simple mechanism for moving the bobbin support to bobbin releasing position so that not only will the repeated indication be prevented but an untransferred bobbin will be released, these joint results being accom plished by substantially the same cooperating devices.

In mechanisms of the type to which the present invention more particularly relates the transferrer arm has a non-transferring stroke away from the shuttle every alternate beat of the loom to effect rocking of a color slide which is an important part of the ordinary multicolor weft replenishing mechanism. It is another object of my invention to derive movement from this non-transferring 1928. Serial No. 293,022.

regularly recurring stroke of a transferrer arm to rock the giveway or support for the bobbin so that the latter will be released before another transferring stroke of the transferrer arm can take place. This feature of my lnvention may be usedeither with the construction shown in the aforesaid King application or independently of such a construction.

With these and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my lnvention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings wherein a convenient embodiment of my invention is set forth,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a multicolor weft replenishing mechanism having my invention applied thereto and showing the parts in the position they as sume normally on non-indicating and nontransferring beats of the loom with the transferrer arm in its lowest position,

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but with the parts in the position they assume on tran sferring beats of the loom,

Fig. 3 is a'view similar to Fig. 2 but with the transferrer arm moved to a higher position and with the bobbin support moved to release an untransferred bobbin, and

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 I have indicated a loom frame 10 having a multicolor weft replenishing mechanism 11 supported thereby. A transferrer arm 12 pivoted on a fixed stud 13 is given a reciprocating movement ina vertical plane by a rod 14 which is caused to move downwardly on detecting beats of the loom and to move upwardly immediately after detecting by mechanism not shown. The transferrer arm 12 does not move immediately to its extreme upward position, this latter movement taking place at a later time in the cycle of the loom when the active shuttle is on that side of the loom opposite the transferrer arm 12.

A weft detector, the lower end of which is indicated at 15, is supported by the transas to clear an indicating lever 17 as the trans- V ferrer arm moves upwardly on non-indicating detecting beats of the loom.

The indicating lever 17 is pivotally mounted on a stud 18 fixed to the magazine frame and said lever has a horizontal arm 19- which by means of a vertical rod 20 has operative connection with a color slide 21. The latter is movable longitudinally and angularly in bearings 22formed as part of the magazine frame and the color slide is movable longitudinally by mechanismnot shown but acting in timed relation with the shuttle boxes not shown. Said color slide will when at rest with respect to longitudinal motion be operatively rel ated to one or another of the vertical slides 23 which control movements of the reserve bobbins 13 toward transfer position.

The indicating lever is provided with an upwardly and forwardly inclined face 24 designed to-cooperate with the plunger 16 when the latter is in indicating position. The transferrer arm is provided with a lug 25 which-in its upward movement engages the stud 19 on the indicator lever 17 on each nondetecting beat of the loom when the active shuttlei's on the opposite side of the loom as previously described to rock the indicating lever in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 to effect cooperation between the color slide 21 and any vertical slide 23 which may be in raised position and also cooperatively positioned with respect to the color slide.

In the operation of the mechanism thus far described the transferrer arm has a complete cycle of operations every two picks of the loom, moving downwardly to cause engagement of the detector 15 with the weft of the active shuttle S every alternate beat of the loom when the active shuttle is under the magazine 11. When weft is present in sufficient amount the transferrer arm will move upwardly without rocking the lever 17, but

when weft is substantially exhaustedthe plunger 16 will be moved longitudinally to lie under the cam face 24 so that as the transferrer arm moves upwardly the indicator lever will be rocked in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 to raise the vertical slide 23 correspondin to the active shuttle. At a later time, name y, when the active shuttle is on the opposite side of the loom, the transferrer arm will complete its upward movement to bring about engagement between the lug 25 and the indicator lever to cause the previously described; counter-clocl'rwise regularly recurring oscillation ofthe indicating lever.

The matter thus far described is substantially the same as that shown in prior patent to Ryon No. 1,372,316 to which reference may be had for a more complete disclosure of the construction and operation of the device. My present invention does not depend upon the particular manner in which the plunger 16 is moved intoindicating relationship with the indicating lever and said plunger may if desired be moved to indicating position by mechanism such as that shown in patent to ,Chevrette No. 1,604,258.

As previously stated, my present invention relates to means for releasing an untransferred bobbin and also to prevent initiation of transfer ontransferring beats of the loom, these two results preferably being accomplished through the same cooperating mechanism to effect simplicity of construction. In carrying myinvention into effect I provide a yieldable bobbin support 40 which'i's secured to a stud 41 by a set screw 42. The stud 'is rotatable in the magazine frame and is surrounded by a torsion spring 43 one end of which is connected tothe magazine frame and the other end of which is connected toa hub 44 of an upwardly extendingarm 45. Said spring tends to turn the arm 45 in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1, acting to hold said arm against a fixed stud 46 under normal conditions. By means of a set screw47 the arm may be adjustabl'y secured to the stud 41.

The arm 45 cooperates with a pressure transmitting member 50 which is provided with a slot 51 through which extend a pair of bolts or screws 52. The latter are secured to the indicating lever 17 and by means of the slot 51 said member 50 is adjustable relatively to the lever 17. The underside of the member 50 is provided with an opening 53 having two walls 54 and 55 which are located respectively in frontof and behind the upper end of the arm 45 and are adapted for engagement with the latter.

During the normal operation of the mechanism the transferrer 12' will be moved. to its extreme upward position once every other pick as previously described and when the lug 25 engages the indicating lever 17 to rock the same in a counter-clockwise direction the wall 55 will engage the upper end of the arm 45 to, rock the latter ina clockwise direction around itsaxis, as shown in Fig. 3. The effect of this is to move the support 40 downwardly and also rearwardly sov that thespace between the forward end of the support '40 and the adj aeent end of a bobbin guide 56, which is normally fixed with respect to the magazine will be slightly more than the diameter of the bobbin. Should a bobbin remain-on the supports 40 and 56 during the upward movement of the transferre'r-arln, therefore, saidbobbin will be released tofall downwardly at a time when the transferrer arm is in raised position. In this way the placing of the wrong bobbin in the active shuttle is pre vented. It is to be understood that this movement of the support preferably takes place on alternate picks of the loom.

The other feature of my invention, namely, the prevention of indication on transferring beats of the loom, is accomplished by cooperation between the arm and the wall 54. It is to be understood that immediately prior to transfer the bobbin which is to be inserted into the running shuttle will be held on the supports 40 and 56 and during the transferring operation the support 40 will yield against the action of spring 48, causing the arm 45 to move away from the stop 46 toward the wall 54. At this time the arm 45 will engage said wall 54 to rock the indicating lever 17 to the position shown in Fig. 2, where it will be seen that the lower end of said lever lies in the path of the indicating plunger 16. Should the latter be released by an improper action of the weft detector on a transferring beat it will be held against moving into indicating relationship with the inclined face 24 of the indicating lever, so that the transferrer arm 12 may move upwardly after transfer without effecting rocking movement of the indicating lever 17 in such a direction as would initiate a second replenishment.

It is to be understood of course that upon proper indications of weft exhaustion when the plunger 16 may correctly move into indieating relationship with the face 24, the lever 17 will move in a clockwise direction and it is in order to permit this movement that I provide the space indicated at between the forward portion of the arm 45 and the wall 54,

see Fig. 1. The arm 45 is so proportioned relatively to the support 40 that the motion of the upper end of said arm at the time of transfer will be sufiicient not only to move across the space 60 but also to give the indicating lever 17 the movement necessary to prevent a second indication, as shown in Fig. 2.

The regularly recurring contact between face 55 and the arm 45 is accompanied by sufficient motion on the part of the indicating lever and the arm so that there will always be enough movement on the part of the support 40 to release the bobbin when the face 54 is correctly adjusted to produce proper cooperation with the arm 45 to prevent repeated indication.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a simple connection between the indicating lever and the yieldable bobbin support 40 effective to release an untransferred bobbin and also prevent indication'of weft exhaustion on transferring beats of the loom. It will further be seen that the pressure transmitting member 50 can be moved to cycle of the loom the arm 45 will be the actuated or driven member to effect releasing movement on the part of the support 40, and

that at another part of the same cycle said It will furthermore be seen that at one point in a complete transferring arm 45 will become the actuator or driving Y men'iber to move the indicating lever into a position where it will prevent initiation of a second transfer by the plunger 16.

Having thus described my invention it will be seen that changes and modifications may be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, but what I claim is: i

1. In a weft replenishing loom provided with a transferrer arm having a regularly recurring transferring movement toward the shuttle at a predetermined time every alternate beat of the loom and having a regularly recurring non-transferring movement awa from the shuttle at some time other than the predetermined time, means to support a bobbin in transfer position, and means operated by a force derived from the transferrer arm as the same has a non-transferring movement to act on the first named means to release an untransferred bobbin.

2. In a weft replenishing loom provided with a transferrer arm having a regularly recurring transferring movement toward the shuttle at a predetermined time every alternate beat of the loom and having a regularly recurring non-transferring movement away from the shuttle at some time other than the predetermined time, means operative by the transferrer arm as the same has its regular non-transferring movement to release an untransferred bobbin.

3. In a weft replenishing loom provided with a transferrer arm having a regularly recurring transferring movement toward the shuttle at a predetermined time every alternate beat of the loom and having a regularly recurring non-transferring movement away from the shuttle at some time other than the predetermined time, a bobbin support to hold a bobbin in transfer position, an element receiving a regular movement from the transferrer arm as the latter has its regular nontransferring movement, and means operatively connected to and moved by the element to move the bobbin support to bobbin releasing position.

4111 a weft replenishing loom having a transferrer arm which is given a transferring stroke toward the shuttle every alternate beat of the loom when the lay is in its forward position and a non-transferring stroke in the opposite direction subsequently to the transferring stroke, means to support an untransferred bobbin under the transferrer as the latter movesv on its non-transferring stroke, and mechanism actuated by the transferrer arm as the same moves on a non-transferring stroke to move said means to release an untransferred bobbin.

5. In a weft replenishing loom. having a transferrer arm which is given'a transferring stroke toward the shuttle every alternate beat of the loom when the lay is in its forward position and a non-transferring stroke in the opposite direction subsequently to the transferring stroke, a pivotally mounted bobbin support to hold a bobbin in transfer position, an indicating lever which is given a regular oscillation by the transferrer lever when the latter moves on its non-transferring strokes, and means moved by the indicating lever to move the bobbin support to release an untransferred bobbin as the transferrer moves on its non-transferring stroke.

6. In a weft replenishing loom having a transferrer arm which is given a transferring stroke toward the shuttle every alternate beat of the loom when the lay is in its forward position and a non-transferring stroke inthe opposite direction subsequent ly to the transferring stroke, means to release an untransferred bobbin, means to pre vent initiation of weft replenishment on transferring beats of the loom, both of said means having a common member which is actuated during the transferring beat of the loom by a force derived from the transferrer arm to prevent initiation of weft replenishment and operative on the non-transferring stroke of the transferrer arm to release an untransferred bobbin.

7. In a weft replenishing loom having a transferrer arm which is given a transferring stroke toward the shuttle every alternate beat of the loom when the lay is in its forward position and a non-transferring stroke in the opposite direction subsequently to the transferring stroke, means to release an untransferred bobbin, means independent of the transferrer arm to prevent initiation of weft replenishment on transferring beats of the loom, and mechanism operative on one stroke of the transferrer arm to operate one of said means and operative on the other stroke to operate the other means.

8; In a weft replenishing loom having a shuttle and a transferrer arm movable toward the shuttle every alternate beat of the loomand movable away from the shuttle on the intervening beats, a movable bobbin support normally in bobbin retaining position, means moved by the support on transferring beats of the loom to prevent initiation of weft replenishment, and mechanism operating through said means to move the support to bobbin releasir-rg position when the transferrer arm moves away from the shuttle.

9. In a weft replenishing loom having a shuttle and a transferrer arm movable toward the shuttle every alternate beat of the loom and movable away from the shuttle on the intervening beats, a movable bobbin support normally in bobbin retaining position,

an indicating lever movable to initiate weft replenishment, connections independent of the transferrer arm between the support and the lever toprevent initiation of weft replenishment on transferring beats of the loom, said indicating lever being moved by the transferrer arm as the latter moves on its stroke away from the shuttle to impart motion through said connections to the support to move the latter to bobbin releasing position.

10'. In a weft replenishing loom having a shuttle and a transferrer arm movable toward the shuttle everyalternate beat of the loom and movable away from the shuttle on the intervening beats, a movable bobbin support normally in bobbin retaining position, an indicating member movable at weft exhaustion to initiate replenishment, connections between the member and the support established at the time of transfer of a full bobbin into the active shuttle to prevent initiation of transfer by a force transmitted through the bobbin support, said transferrer arm giving the member a regular movement on the alternate beats when said transferrer arm moves away from the shuttle, said regular movement of the member being effective through the conneetionsto move thebobbin support to bobbin releasing position.

11. In a weft replenishing loom having a shuttle and. a transferrer arm movable toward the shuttle every alternate beat of the loom and movable away from the shuttle on the interventing' beats, a movable bobbin support normally in bobbin retaining position, and indicating member movable at substantial weft exhaustion to initiate replenishment of Weft, a pressure transmitting element secured to the member, a device moving with the bobbin support and adapted for cooperation with the element, said device on trains;- ferring beats of the loom engaging the element to move the member to prevent initiation of weft replenishment, the transferrer arm giving the number a regular movement on the alternate beats oft-he loom when said transferrer arm moves away from the shuttle to cause said element to move the device and support to move the latter to bobbin releasing position.

12. In a weft replenishing loom having a shuttle and a transferrer arm movable toward the shuttle every alternate beat of the loom and movable away from the shuttle on the intervening beats, a movable bobbin support normally in bobbin retaining position, and indicating member movable at substantial weft exhaustion to initiate replenishment of weft, a pressure transmitting element secured to the member, a device moving with the bobbin support and adapted for cooperation with the element, said device on transferring beats of the loom engaging the element to move the member to prevent initiation of weft replenishment, the transferrer arm giving the member a regular movement on the alternate beats of the loom when said transferrer arm moves away from the shuttle to cause said element to move the device and support to move the latter to bobbin releasing position, and means to hold said element in any one of a plurality of different positions on the member.

13. In a Weft replenishing loom having a shuttle and a transferrer arm movable toward the shuttle every alternate beat of the loom and movable away from the shuttle on the intervening beats, a movable bobbin support normally in bobbin retaining position, an indicating member movable at substantial weft exhaustion to initiate replenishment of weft, a pressure transmitting element secured to the member, a device moving with the bobbin support and adapted for cooperation with the element, said device on transferring beats of the loom engaging the element to move the member to prevent initiation of weft replenishment, the transferrer arm giving the member a regular movement on the alternate beats of the loom when said transferrer arm moves away from the shuttle to cause said element to move the device and support to move the latter to bobbin releasing position, there being a lost motion connection between the device and the element, whereby the member may move to initiate-replenishment without interferring with said device.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

WALTER H. WAKEFIELD. 

